Year end -- Girl's death, surprise storm among top NH stories

KATHY McCORMACK,Associated Press

Wednesday

Dec 28, 2011 at 3:15 AM

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two girls — one found dead days after disappearing, another who watched as one of her mother's killers were sentenced to life in prison — became the top news stories in New Hampshire in 2011.

Their cases made an impression in a year of dramatic events, including the surprise October storm that dumped up to 34 inches of snow in one part of the state and cut off electricity to 315,000 customers; the loosening of gun restrictions; and the tug-of-war over setting New Hampshire's first-in-the nation presidential primary date.

Celina Cass, 11, disappeared in July from her West Stewartstown home. Her body was found in the Connecticut River a week later.

The attorney general's office classified her death as a homicide, but has not revealed how she was killed. No one has been arrested. A reward fund was established, and condolences poured in from across the nation, but residents in the small community a mile from Canada are frustrated by the lack of answers.

"I go to the cemetery every week," her mother, Luisa Cass, said in September. "I talk to her. I want her to come and tell me what happened so we know."

The 12-year-old survivor of a brutal 2009 home invasion, Jaimie Cates, appeared in court for the first time to witness the sentencing of a man convicted in the attack that killed her mother, Kimberly Cates.

Jaimie played dead and recovered from severe injuries to see the five young men involved sentenced to prison in the time since the attack, two of them to life. During the March 25 sentencing of one of them, Christopher Gribble, the judge provided some reassuring words to the girl. Most of his knife blows had targeted her.

"I hope you know that this man and the other men that were involved in this terrible crime can never hurt you again," Judge Gillian Abramson told her.

The home invasion led legislators to expand New Hampshire's death penalty law — one of the narrowest in the nation — to include killings during burglaries. House Speaker William O'Brien, who is from Mont Vernon, sponsored the bill and named it after Kimberly Cates. Gov. John Lynch signed it into law in June.

The Republican-led Legislature also made news for voting to ease gun regulations, including allowing guns in the Statehouse complex. And despite objections from law enforcement and Lynch's veto, the Legislature passed a bill that allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves any place they have a right to be.

"No law-abiding citizen should have to turn his back on a rapist or a robber," said state Rep. Jennifer Coffey, R-Andover.

The measure also says brandishing a weapon isn't considered deadly force under the law. That provision was inspired by Moultonborough farmer Ward Bird's incarceration on a mandatory minimum three-year sentence for showing a gun when a trespasser refused to leave his property.

Bird was jailed in November 2010 and released in February after the Executive Council took the rare step of commuting his sentence. Bird and his supporters carrying "Free Ward Bird" signs had asked for a pardon, but Lynch vetoed it. He said the judicial system gave Bird's case a thorough review, and he would not undermine it.

New Hampshire also reinstated a requirement for pregnant girls seeking abortions to tell their parents or a judge first after state lawmakers overrode Lynch's veto of the measure. Lynch had argued that the legislation was unclear and too narrow.

Legislators supported Lynch's veto of a bill that would have barred unions from collecting a share of dues from non-members. Currently, unions and businesses must negotiate whether to require the fees as part of a collective bargaining agreement. Lynch said repeatedly that the bill interfered with private businesses and their employees' negotiations over contracts.

Lawmakers were criticized for passing a $10.2 billion two-year budget that took effect July 1 and made severe cuts, among them the budget for the University of New Hampshire system and payments to hospitals to care for the poor. It also increased state workers' pension costs.

Ten of the state's 13 biggest hospitals sued the state in July, saying the cuts violated federal law requiring health care access for the poor. Many hospitals said they had to lay off workers.

The state's economically struggling North Country saw some encouraging developments in 2011, including the reopening of the last paper mill, in Gorham; and long-awaited approvals for funding for the federal prison and the building of a biomass plant in Berlin. The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, where New Hampshire's first-in-the nation presidential primary ballots had been cast for 50 years, was closed in September and was finally sold to a buyer. The resort, one of the largest employers in the area, is expected to stay closed during renovations, which could last up to 18 months.

Many North Country residents expressed opposition to the Northern Pass, a proposed hydroelectric power project that would cut a large swath of wilderness for transmission lines to bring power to New England from Canada. Project officials are working on a new route for the power lines after many objected to their initial one. The situation prompted lawmakers to work on a bill to clarify the taking of land by eminent domain for such projects.

Northern New Hampshire also battled rain and flooding in May. Flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Irene in August also affected parts of the region; over 500 applicants in Carroll and Grafton counties registered for federal disaster assistance. The state also received a federal disaster declaration for the rare October snowstorm.

Other top news stories of 2011:

— New Hampshire — and Bill Gardner, the nation's longest-serving secretary of state — prevailed in keeping the state's presidential primary first in the nation. For the 2012 election, Nevada initially decided to hold its contest in mid-January. Gardner warned that decision could force New Hampshire to vote in early December. Nevada Republicans then voted to shift their presidential caucuses to early February, and leaving enough room for New Hampshire to schedule its primary on Jan. 10.

— A Texas woman pleaded guilty to killing her 6-year-old son in New Hampshire and disposing of his body in rural Maine. Julianne McCrery drove cross-country from Irving, Texas, with thoughts of committing suicide as well as killing her son. But investigators believe McCrery also felt inconvenienced by having her son in her life and intended to return to Texas without him.

— New Hampshire's Republican House leader called the state's Roman Catholic bishop a "pedophile pimp," then later apologized. Rep. D.J. Bettencourt criticized Bishop John McCormack after the bishop criticized cuts to social services in the House budget. McCormack was an aide to Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, where the Catholic sex abuse scandal began. He was in charge of investigating sexual misconduct allegations.

McCormack recently stepped down after reaching the Vatican's mandatory retirement age of 75. The Rev. Peter Anthony Libasci of Long Island, N.Y., was named the 10th bishop of the diocese.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.